Lowering car for incline railways



p 1929- H. POTRAFKE ET AL 1,708,190

LOWERING CAR FOR INCLINE RAILWAYS Filed Nov. 29, 1924 s SQeets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Herman Pai'rafk:

6&5 MAJJcn (ya/4 K ATTORNEY April 9, 1929. H. POTRAFKE ET AL 1,708,190

I LOWERING CAR FOR INCLINE RAILWAYS Filed Nov. 29, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet 2 FQMS INVENTORS Herman Pat-aft: BY Roy/M4067? TTORNEY s April 9, 1929. H. POTRAFKE ET AL LOWERING CAR FOR INCLINE RAILWAYS Filed Nov. 29, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 lNVENTOR Herman Pofrafke BY Roy N/Ukn AT6RNEY April 192-9- H. POTRAFKE ET AL 1,708,190

LOWERING CAR FOR INCLINE RAILWAYS mlllllllu nl ATTORNEY April 9, 1' 929.

H. POTRAFKE ET AL 1,708,190 LOWERING CAF' FOR INCLlNE RAILWAYS 5 Sheets-Shet Filed Nov. 29, 1924 INVENTORS liermaa Fad/vile BY fig; 114 Allen. roRNEY Patented Apr. 9, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN POTRAFKE, OF ASHFORD, AND ROY N. ALLEN, OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON.

LOWERING CAR FOR INCLINE RAILWAYS.

vApplication filed November 29, 1924. Serial No. 752,855.

This invention relates to a car of new and improved design intended primarily for moving burden-bearing cars and logging trucks of ordinary construction on incline railway tracks as in logging operations in mountainous country, where it is frequently found economical to haul empty logging cars or trucks up a steep incline for loading, then to lower them withtheir loads to a railroad on which they are subsequently drawn by locomotive or similar motive power and the object of this invention is to provide a car of this nature that will operate eiiiciently and that will reduce the wear on the hauling cable to a minimum.

The power supplied by a stationary donkey engine moves the car by means of a two part line or cable at each side of the track between the car and the engine, the cable on one side movingin the direction of the movement of the haul at double the speed of the car, the cable on the other side being at rest.

The car is particularly adapted to incline railways having more or less curvature and changes of grade. The car body is mounted upon a substantial truck placed at or near midway of its length in an appropriate manner to permit vertical and horizontal movement of the ends of the car.

A pony truck, such as is used under ordinary railroad locomotives, is placed un der each end of the car to act as a guide to prevent derailment on curves. The object of thisconstruction is to permit the adjustment of the car body with the draft line of the cable eliminating bending of the cable.

On the car body is mounted a sheave of sufficient diameter to carry the moving cables outside the rails of the track. sheave revolves upon a pin, one end of which operates in a bearing in the bottomof the car body, and for the purpose of greater rigidity and strength extends above the sheave into a hearing within a beam above the sheave, securely fastened at its ends to the car body outside the circumference of the sheave. 'lVhile this is a preferableconstruction, anymeans by which the sheave can be held in secure and vfixed relation to the car body will serve the purpose.

For the purpose of adjusting the car body on its central axis so that the groove of the sheave will keep on a plane in direct line of the force by means of. wlich the car is This 7 on the rim oi the sheave accomplishes the necessary curve of one hundred and eighty degrees without subjection to the deteriora ing effect of external strain combined with bending or internal strain to which wear is chiefly attributable.

' The loaded vehicles are attached to this special car by means of couplers preferably .of automatic type.

The accompanying drawings and the following specification suggest a type of construction which will accomplish the useful purposes attained by our invention, but it is understood that the manner of construction and forms of the various members constituting the completed machine are subject to much variation.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the front and side of this car.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing one side and the rear 0i the same.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of this car.

Fig. t is a side elevation of the same.

F ig. 5 is a front end view 01 the same.

Fig. 6 is a rear endview with the ,rear pony truck omitted to better illustrate the center truck.

F 7 is a sectional view on broken line 7 7,ot' Fig. 3 showing the rear end of the Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevation showing parts of the truck frame and center truck bolster.

Fig. 9 is a view in side elevation of a form of cable guide used for guiding the cable'around a curve.

Fi 10 is a diagrammatic plan view showing an application of my invention to an inclin d logging road.

Fig. 11 is a similar diagrammatic view in side elevation.

Like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views.

' the inclined railroad.

In logging heavy timber it is often desirable to log on hillsides and at relatively high elevations where the logs must be transported down relatively steep inclines the gradesof these inclines running as high as fifty per cent, and said inclines being much too steep to permit the use of ordinary logging locomotives thereon. This condition has developed the use of a system of logging in which logging railroads are built in as nearly a straight line as possible down these inclines and logging cars loaded with logs are lowered down these inclined railroads- These cars, commonly termed lowering cars, are of very strong and heavy construction and must be provided with means, as a sheave, around which a hauling cable may .pass to govern the movement of the car'on This hauling cable is ordinarily double or what is termed a two part cable and may be several miles in length, one part of said cable lying on one side of the railroad track and the other part of said cable lying on the other side of the 'ailroad track, the sheave in the lowering car operating in the bight of the cable, the cable on one side being movable and the cable on the other sidebeing at rest, one end of the cable being secured to the winding drum of a snubbing engine at one side of the track and the other end being securely anchored near the snubbing engine at the other side of the track. The cables are expensive-and it is very desirable to conserve and prolong the life of the same. The connection of the cable as hereinbefore described gives a one to two reduction in speed and a substantially two to one mechanical advantage between the engine and car respectively.

The loads on trailers handled by a lowering car of this nature are necessarily very heavy, the railroad tracks over which the cars operate are often sharply curved and have intersecting laterals or branches and .the grade of said tracks often changes 7 the car.

and arranged to permit the car frame to tilt vertically and to swing sidewise relative to said trucks.

Referring specifically to the drawings we provide a truck frame, preferably but not necessarily of fabricated steel construction made up of a lower rectangular frame portion 15, a transverse support 16 near the front end of frame 15-and projecting beyond the sides of the same and a longitudinally extending medially disposed beam 17 spaced above the lower frame portion 15 and constituting an upper frame portion. The front end of beam 17 is secured to the transverse support 16 and the rear end of beam 17 is supported by a very substantial structure 18 built upon frame 15." A brace and reinforcing plate 19 is provided on the top of transverse support 16 and upper frame beam 17. I I

- The car frame is supported on three railroad trucks designated generally by the numeals 20, 21 and 22, the center truck 20 being a main supporting or carrying truck and the end trucks being flexibly mounted guide trucks of the form commonly known as pony trucks. 7

he center truck 20 is provided with the usual yieldingly mounted bolster member 23, resting on springs 24-. Acrowned bearing plate 25, Fig. 8, issecured to the top of bolster member 23 mid way between the two ends and is provided with an upwardly protruding pivot stud 26, Figs. 7 and 8, that fits into a hole in a bearing plate 27 on the bottom of lower car frame 15 thereby forming a pivot joint that admits of a limited amount of rocking or tilting movement of the car frame relative to this truck. A slight rolling movement of bolster 23 on springs 24 is permitted thus increasing the tilting movement afforded longitudinally of v The center-truck 20 is disposed under or near the center of the car and is arranged'to carry substantially the entire -weight of the car.

A bearing 28' for the lower end of an upright shaft 30 is supported on the plate 27 and 011 channel members 31 that extend crosswise of lower frame 15 and another bearing member 32 for the upper end of ghaft 30 is supported by upper frame beam A relatively large sheave 33 preferably of built up steel construction having a sectional periphery or rim and a fabricated center is secured by plate keep 29 to shaft 28 and rotatably disposed between lower frame 15 and upper frame beam 1'7. A thrust plate 34 on hearing 28 supports the weight of sheave 33- Rollers 35 are provided below the periphery of sheave 33 at a plurality of points to relieve the shaft 30 and bearing 28 and 32 of excess strain, Sheave 33 has a groove39 for the reception of a hauling cable 36, one end of whichmay be secured to a winding drum 37 on a snubbing engine 38 and the other end of which may be anchored to a fixed support .40 near the snubbing engine. 1 By the use of the single sheave 33 of maximum diameter, the direction of the cable 36 is changed 180 degrees with the least possible bending and the strain on that part of the cable that is drawn around the sheave is greatly reduced due to the long of contact on the sheave thereby relieving fatigue in the'cable momentarily during the timeit is passing around the sheave and is subjected to bending strains and greatly prolonging the useful life of the cable.

Guide rollers 41, 42 and 43 for the cable 36 are provided inboth ends of transverse support 16 in alignment with the side extremities of sheave 33, the rollers 4-1 and 42 being below and above'the cable 36 respectively and the rollers 43 occurring in pairs one on each side of the cable 36. These guide rollers adjust the car body so that sheave 33 is always in the plane of the line of pull of the cable thereby avoiding bending of the cable.

The pony trucks each embody an axle 44 having wheels .45 and jol'u'na-led in bearing boxes 46 upon which springs 47 are supported. A transverse truss orbols-tcr member 48 preferably formed of two spaced apart bars has its two ends suspended from the ends of the springs 47 by links 50 so that it is free to move vertically a limited amount and is also free to move forwardly and rearwardly limited amount relative to the wheels and axle. A bolster block 51 is disposed between the two members of bolster 4S and suspended therefrom by links 52 so that it is free to swing sidewiseof the pony truck. The upper portion of the bolster block 51 has :arelatively deep socketfor the reception of a relatively long hub 54- on a plate 55 that is secured to and supports the endof the car frame. A king pin 56 connects bolster block 51 and hub portion 5d of plate 55, saidhing pin being relatively long and having a cross key 56 which permits hub 54 tO IDOVQ upwardly :a considerable distance in socket 53 thus allowing tle end of the car fraine to be raised without lifting the wheels of the truck off of the railroad track 57 on which they run. A truss member 58 extending rearwardly in the case of the front pony truck and forwardly in the case of the rear pony truck connects said pony trucks with the car frame and radius rods (30 extend from the forward ends of the truss members to the lower parts of the hearing boxes l6 of the trucks.

The pony trucks make possible both vertical and sidewise movement of the ends of the car Without liftingi or forcing the truck wheels off of thetrack thusmaking it poscable 'gagcinent with said coupler G1.

but it is necessary that these cha es be e 1 n1pen3 ed for to keep the sheave 33 s line with the line of pull the ant thereby prevent excessive wear of 75 the cable.

The car frame is provided at the rear end with a coupler 61 secured by a vertical pin (32 to a draw bar (33 that secured by horizontal pivot pin o l to the frame. The coupler 61 is of substantially the usual standard shape except that it is provided with a rigid integral hook portion or lip 65 for engage ment with the pimtally connected hook portion of the usual coupler member and 8 further provided with an integral bottom 66 which will prevent the coupler member that lit-s thereinto from dropping out at the bottom in use the end of the lowering car is raised in passing over abrupt chair" a in grade. The coupler (31 is also subuintially twice the depth of the ordinary coupler so that the meinl'iers with which it is engaged can not 11 ove upwardly out of on- This cou- 9o p'ler is a great advantage to a car of this nat are and sa cs considerable time and labor over present methods which usually employ manually operated flexible coupling n1-1nbers to connect the logging to the low ering cars.

The hauling cable 36 is supported on rollers 57 that are arranged along side of the track. In depressions and at rade changes where there is a tendency for the cable to be raised, the rollers are provided in in'v ed position above the collie to h t-ln down. Brackets instc d of rollers 11 provided on the dead line side or ll if desired. In Figure 9 we 7 shown a cable e f of the form used i id'ug the cab curves in the track. This device c pri a bell crank haped bracket menu on a pivot 70 and provu. d with two arms Tl and 72 arranged at s Us an" ally right a i each other. A roller 73 is ourn:'1le' arm 71. These devices are mounted to assume the positions shown by in Fig. 9. Bis-the lo'vvering car move the inclines the transverse supo" t V 43. The rollers T 3 will remain raised until they are engaged by the tansverse support 1-3 and lowered upon the return of the lowering 1'30 car. On the side of the track where the hauling cable 36 is at rest the rollers 73 may be omitted and the bell crank arm 71 may be shaped to form a guide for the dead portion of the cable instead of forming. a bearing for a roller 73.

In operation this lowering car is lowered down or drawn up the inclined. trackway by unwinding or winding in the hauling cable 36 and serves as a means of hauling the cars that are coupled thereto. The inclined trackway,- necessarily under practical working conditions, has numerous changes in grade and usually has curves or has lateral intersecting trackways or branches 74: which constitute curves over which the hauling car must pass. In Fig. 11, we have shown the hauling car at the location of a break in the grade. At this point the hauling cable tends to prevent any changes in the angular position of the car frame and the rear pony trucks must drop in order to run upon and follow the track. After the lowering car has passed the point where the grade changes the cable guides will cause the cable to again exert a straight pull and the pony trucks will resume their normal position. In passing around a curve in the track the cable holds the car frame substantially-in alignment with the line of pull but the car trucks must all follow the rails. The verticaland horizontal movement allowed by the pony trucks-permits them to swing in any direction from their normal position under the car frame in following over or around a curve in the track. The universal movement afforded by the pony trucks also allows them to follow a curve and pass over a change ingrade at the same time, if necessary, while the car frame is held in alignment with the line of pull of the hauling cable. 7

From the preceding description it will be seen that the pony trucks in this structure afford a flexibility which is very desirable in a lowering car of this nature and which permits the car frame tobe moved either horizontally or vertically or-both while the trucks remain firmly and securely on the track. .This flexibility is highly desirable on tracks whcrethere are sharp'curves and breaks in grade.

The cable 36 always draws squarely into the groove of the sheave 33 without rolling or sliding on 'said sheave and makes continuous contact with the sheave throughan are of substantially one hundred and eighty de-' grees thereby avoiding as far as possible all sharp bending and excessive wear of the cable. The single sheave gives the full spread of line required for operating and clearance purposes and also gives the maxi mum bending arc of the cable that it is possible-to obtain for a given spread.

If desired a hand rail 29 may be provided on the ear frame. This hand rail is shown in Figs. 4L, 5 and 7 but is omitted in the other views. I v

The foregoing description and accompanying drawings clearly disclose a preferred embodimentof our invention but it will be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that numerous changes may be made within the scope and spirit of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A car for use on an incline track with horizontal or vertical curvature moved by a cable actuated by an engine and held by appropriate means in approximately parallel relation to the rails of the track passing around a single revolving sheave fixedly mounted on the car to which burden bearing trucks and vehicles may be coupled with means whereby the car will adjust itself so that the sheave thereon carrying the cable will be in a plane with the lines of force which move the car without substantial bending of the cable before and after it enters and leaves the sheave.

2. A car for use on an incline track with horizontal or vertical curvature moved by a cable actuated by an engine and held by appropriate means in approximately parallel relation-to the rails of the track, passing around a single revolving sheave fixedly mounted on the car to which burden-bearing trucks and vehicles may be coupled with means whereby the car will adjust itself so that the sheave thereon carrying the cable will be in aplane with the lines of force which move the car, without substantial bending of thecable before and after it enters and leaves theshea-ve, with means for keeping the car on the track when passing ,over curves.

I 8. A car for use on an inclinetrack with horizontal or vertical curvature moved by a cable aetuatedby an engine and held by appropriate means in approximately parallel relation to the rails of the track, passing around a single revolving sheave of sufiicient diameter to carrywithout other means the cable outside the rails of, the track, fixedly mounted on the car to which burden-bearing trucks and vehicles maybe coupled with means whereby the car will adjust itself so that the sheave thereon carrying the. cable will be in a. plane with the lines of force which move the car, without substantial bending of the cable before and after it enters and leaves the sheave.

4. A car for use on an incline track with horizontal or vertical curvature 'moved by a cable actuated by-an'engine and held by appropriate means in approximately parallel relation tothe rails .of the track, passing around a single revolving sheave of sufficient diameter to carry without other means the cable outside the rails of the track fixedly mounted on the car to which burdenbcaring trucks and vehicles may be coupled with means whereby the car: will adjust itself so that the sheave thereon the cable will be in plane withthe lines of force which move the car, without substantial bending of the cable before and after it enters and leaves the sheave, with means for keeping the car on the track when passing over curves.

5. A cab e operated lowering car embodyin; a car frame, a main load supporting L a the center of said car frame, other trucks n r'ibly supporting the ends of said car frame and a single large sheave mounted on s id car frame parallel therewith for the reception of hauling cable, said single sheave a1 ording su ficient spread of the hauing c bio for clearance purposes.

6. A caole operat d lowering car embed e' a car frame, a main truck and two pony trucl: flexibly and adjastably supporting said ar frame for movement over an in clineu taaclrway and sheave means mounted car frame and arranged to run in on said the high of a hauling cable, the plane of said sheave means being constant relative to the plane of said 'ca'r frame. and the flexibility afforded to, said car frame by said pony trucks permitting automatic adjustmr-nt of said sheave means into the plane of the line of pull of raid hauling cable.

7. A of the described embodying a car fr me, main load supporting truck, means includinga pivotal rocker bearing for supporting said car frame on said truck, pony truclr flexibly supporting each end of car frame and a sheave rotatably mo nted on said car frame parallel therewith for the reception of a hauling cable.

8. A cable operated lowering car embodya car frame, car trucks supporting said frame, a single sheave of lar e diameter aun for rotation on said car frame parthercwirh and a double hauling cable nuous contact with said sheave 'ie of substantially one himdred rotatably mounted on said car frame on an axis perpendicular thereto and projecting beyond opposite sides of said our frame.

11.1 cable operated lowering car embodying car frame, a main truck at the glity degrees, said sheave maintaining suflicenter of said car frame, a pony truck at each end of said car frame, a relatively large sheave disposed parallel with said car frame and projecting beyond the opposite sides thereof and rotatable on an axis that is perpeiulicular to said car frame, and a hauling cable passing around said sheave, one end of said cable being permanently anchored and the other end of said hauling cable being connected with a power operated winding drum.

]2. A cable operated lowering car cmbodying a lower car frame structure, upper car frame structure rigid with said lower car frame structure and spaced therefrom, a relatively large sheave rotatably mounted between said two car frame structures for the reception of a hauling cable and car trucks supporting said car frame structure for movement over a railroad track.

13.A cable operated lowering car embodying railroad trucks, a lower car frame structure supported on said trucks, an upper car frame structure rigid with said lower our frame structure and spaced therefrom, a sheave disposed between said two car frame structures and a bearing axle for said sheave perpendicular to said two car frame structures and supported in both of said car frame structure.

14. A cable operated lowering car embodying a car frame, trucks supporting said car frame, a sheave rotatably mounted on said car frame parallel therewith and projecting beyond the eoges of said car frame, a support extending crosswise of said car frame in front of said sheave, guide rollers in said support in alignment with the side extremities of said sheave and a hauling cable passing around said sheave and through said guide rollers.

15. A lowering car of the class described embodying car trucks, two relatively rigid car frame structures supported on said trucks in spaced apart relation one above the other, a single sheave of large diameter rot-atably mount d between said car frame structures parallel therewith and projecting beyond the sides of said car frame structures, a rigid support arranged crosswise of said car frame structures in front of said sheave, guide rollers in said support in alignment with the side extremities of said sheave and a hauling cable passing around said sheave and through said guide rollers.

16. In a lowering car of the class described a wheel supported car frame and a relatively large sheave aranged to be rotatably mounted on said car frame for receiving a hauling cable said sheave having a grooved peripheral portion formed of a plurality of sections and a central portion of fabricated steel.

17. In a lowering car a wheel supported car'frame, sheave means on said car frame arranged to run in the bight of a hauling cable and a coupler on one end of said car frame arranged to engage with a standard coupler on a logging car said coupler having a solid hook portion arranged to engage with the pivoted hook portion of the standard coupler and having a closedbottom end and being of substantially twice the depth of the standardcoupler;

The foregoing'specification signed at'Tacoma, WVashington, this 28th dayof October, nineteen hundred twenty-four.

HERMAN POTRAFKE. ROY N. ALLEN. 

